Christer & Cat

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted- It’s hard to find an hour to myself anymore. We have a lot of catching up to do! First let’s take care of Lizzie She is such an energetic, happy-go-lucky kind of baby! She has the personality that you just can’t get enough of. She is smiling constantly- talking… constantly- moving- more like turbo moving…constantly. She just turned 4 months last week and she is ready to get up and run around with Addison. She rolled over for the first time On October 12th and I haven’t seen her sit still since then. She’ll launch herself with her powerful legs off and into anything she’s around. Yesterday she scooted across an entire room only to find herself under the coffee table- she didn’t like that very much and start to try to get my attention to help her. I left her there but cheered her on and she continued scooting until she was next to the couch- which she then tried to squeeze under LOL! Also, Lizzie woke up yesterday after her nap with 2 red marks on her face- one across her forehead and one across her mouth- when I went to get out of her crib- mind you she wasn’t crying- it looked like she was trying to chew her way out! She is such an incredible joy to have in our family and always brightens my day.

Addison is such a big girl now! She LOVES to wash the dishes (or the frisbee if the sink is clean) and help me with whatever I’m doing in the kitchen. Her hair is long enough that I can put it into pig-tails which makes her look just adorable! I try to do it everyday but she’ll only let me a couple times a week. She’s still pretty shy around strangers- but has REALLY opened up to her grandparents and she loves talking to them and being cute enough that they’ll do almost anything for her Addison loves the outdoors and I’m really excited to see her reaction when we get some substantial snow fall. She’s getting a little nervous around bugs, but still loves to play in the dirt. She is a great big sister and gives Lizzie loves several times a day.

Halloween was a ton of fun this year since Addison could get into it. She was a “Pirate Princess” and Lizzie was a bunny. We went to 2 trunk-or-treats. One on Friday night at my ward and one on Saturday night at my sister’s ward.

Addison felt like she could make her own grilled cheese sandwich. She would bite a chunk off the cheese block and then flip the bread in the skillet (don’t worry the stove was not on) and then take some bread out- bite it and flip it again. Pretty funny

Here is Addison washing whatever she can find- including the frisbee I love those pig-tails!

Addison is enjoying the first snow of the season with Grandma.

Poor girl wore herself out jumping around

Under the coffee table!

My happy-go-lucky girl!

Addison is playing with the neighbor boy Franklin- they are just putting rocks up there and watching them fall out…

What will entertain them next?!

For those who want to know if Lizzie looks like Addi – you can compare their 2 month pictures- I’d love to hear what you think!

Elizabeth Marie is 2 months old!!! She is such a blessing to have in our family. When she was only a week old we took her to the zoo- she slept through most of it, but I’m sure she enjoyed it One night while Liz and I were still in the hospital, I laid her on a pillow and just talked to her. She suddenly went cross-eyed and I started laughing. Immediately following the look came a HUGE explosion in her diaper. It just made the look she gave even funnier. When we got home Addison was ready to have her mom back. It was nap time and diapers needed to be changed. Mom was going to change Lizzie’s diaper and Dad was going to change Addison’s diaper. BUT Addison had to “show” Lizzie how to get your diaper changed. Lizzie already has a special bond with her sister Addison.

About a month ago Mom and Dad were in bed and getting Lizzie ready for bed too.  Liz started “talking” to mom about how it went with dad while mom put Addison to bed. Dad smiled at us because my “yeah, oh- I’m sorry, uh-huh, yeah, okay I’ll tell him” along with her cooing sounded like a real conversation. So I turned to dad once Lizzie stopped and told him that Lizzie wants him to know that when she’s fussy like that it’s because she wants to cuddle on her tummy with him not her back. Dad acknowledged and I turned back to Liz to make sure I told him everything she wanted me to- she was satisfied and went on to tell me how hard it is being a baby sometimes

It was really fun. Addison LOVES kissing Liz and now she’ll even sit on the couch and pull a pillow over her lap and ask to hold Lizzie.

Lizzie is a big scooter already! Her legs are so strong that she can stand on her own almost since birth! She can’t balance of course but it’s amazing the strength she has already. I put her on the boppy the other day to get some tummy time and she kicked herself over it- so her head was on the other side on the floor- her arms were a little stuck so she couldn’t really do much from there, but I’ll tell ya- she’s going to be a strong girl.

Here is Lizzie on her one month birthday. She really likes being in the bean bag~

If you think she looks long- well you’re right. She’s in the 98% for her length and 75% for weight.

My big girl Addison is 18 months old TODAY! She has grown up so much just in the last couple months. Addison loves her little sister and will give kisses to her whenever possible. Today when we got home from the Hill Air Force Museum Liz was crying and Addison looked at her and pointed to me and said “Mom” as if she were telling Lizzy that mom is coming, it’s okay Addison has a new fascination for Elmo. We watch an episode of Sesame Street at least 600 times this past weekend! She loves to be with people, show her belly button, laugh, make cookies, help clean up, sing songs, dance, mimic animal sounds…. I can’t even list everything she’s into and learning! She knows a hand full of signs and is becoming a very polite girl by signing “please.” Her mind is a sponge and I am excited to see what we can fill it with- she catches onto things so quickly!

We went to the zoo a week after Elizabeth was born- Addison had a blast smiling and waving at the monkey’s.

We went outside one morning and got caught in the sprinklers- I was too late getting the camera but we had a blast

When Grandma Johnson came to visit the first time this month we went to the Treehouse museum and Addison showed her sponge mind Here she is in the school house- she really enjoyed this.

Like I said before Addison loves to make cookies. I’ll put the mixing bowl on the floor so that we can stir it together. Then she’ll eat the cookie dough.

She found a new peek-a-boo spot: the towel cabinet in the master bath – it’s funny to watch her climb in and then shut the door. Here she is hiding from the camera- I hope you see the smile in her eyes that she’s covering

Some friends came over the other night and she and Elise sat on the stairs and ate their popsicles.

Same night with the friends… Jackie and Addison would have their “pow-wows” and show their belly button and laugh and chase each other.

After a thunderstorm  Addison was quick to play in the water.

I love Addison so much and I’m glad she’s apart of our family. She is so inspirational and cheerful. She is such a good daughter and a great sister.

Addison would like to show everyone her new trick. Her baby sister is getting a lot of attention, so everyone look at what she can do!

Pictures are now available in Elizabeth’s Gallery. I apologize for the delay, but I couldn’t find where I had packed up the card reader for the camera. We’ll keep adding to it as we get more. Enjoy!

Elizabeth Marie Edwards- Less than 12 hours old

Well it is the end of Day One with Lizzie and Mommy back home with us. So far things have gone well. Addison is still adjusting, of course. Mostly she is jealous of the attention from her Mom. I’ve been trying to spend extra time with her, but there is only so much a Dad can do. Sometimes she just needs Mom.

Cat and Addison went for a drive this afternoon and ran some errands. That gave them a few hours of girl-time. Daddy stayed home with Lizzie and they both took a nap, which was nice. So far she has been very pleasant–rarely fussy.

I had better get some sleep while I can. It has been a long weekend and I’m sure its only going to get more exciting.

Well, we’ve been at the hospital a total of about eight hours and we’ve managed to come up with another little girl. I swear Catherine is going to win medals someday for her extraordinary baby-pushing abilities. Let me tell you a tale, and we’ll let you decide.

Dad is stretched out on the uncomfortable Father-couches. (You know, those green couches that are not deep enough to get comfortable and not quite long enough to stretch out on, but are there to give visitors the illusion of being welcome. It’s really just a ploy by the Hospital to keep cycling the people through.) He is rudely awakened by Hospital staff moving in carts and monitoring equipment. When he gets the sleep cleared from his eyes he notices that the doctor is already fully covered in plastic. Looks like he’s ready to get dirty.

Dad gets up and stands by Mom’s head. She’s doing great. No pushing yet, just basking in a medical-induced glow. Contractions have been regular and we’ve made a lot of progress while Dad has been napping.

Not a moment later the Doctor says to grab Mom’s leg and hold it up. The nurse on the other side does the same. The Doctor takes a peek and mentions that the baby is facing the wrong way, “but we’ll take care of that with a good solid push.”

Mom pushes. Doctor peeks. Baby is facing the right way. If hindsight were with us, he’d mention that we were now about halfway there.

Doctor tells Mom she can rest for a few minutes. He tilts his head, as if he’s remembering something, and settles his stance for better traction. It’s time to push again.

Dad again helps Mom with the leg and Mom pushes. If it were a cartoon there would have been a loud “POP”. We seem to have the larger part of a baby. How ’bout that! One last mini-push, one that doesn’t even really qualify as a push–more of a grunt–and we’re all done. Good work Mom! The time is 6:23 am.

Baby is long. And Big! When it’s all said and done she is 9lbs, 7oz, 22 inches. All the nurses have wide eyes. The anesthesiologist is in the corner mumbling something about how Mom had enough pain medication to stop an Ox, yet there she is moving her feet already on here own. It’s quite the feat. Dad is quite amazed that in the first twenty minutes of being awake he’s now a Father, again.

We’re still deliberating on the middle name, but Elizabeth is here to stay and she’s a beautiful monster!

Let’s try this again.. (I’ve tried two previous posts and had problems. I blame the Hospital wifi)

Catherine is now all wired up to the warm-and-fuzzies machines here at Davis Hospital. We’ve been here nearly five hours (I’m exhausted!). The doctor is now here and we’re going to get started with having a baby pretty soon. I realize by the time many of you read this the baby will likely already be here, but I need something to do to keep me awake here tonite. (Perhaps I should try to nap a little bit on this horrible green couch.)

More news as it comes. Updates will likely make it to Facebook before they make it here.